Best Place to Skinny Dip

Not Skinny Dipper anymore

Staff Pick

Bureau of Land Management

Visit Skinny Dipper Hot Springs—45 minutes north of Boise on the Banks-Lowman Highway—on any given Sunday, and you're be sure to meet Ken Palmer, the 71-year-old who discovered steam rising from the mountainside 20 years ago and built the popular soak spot. Chances are, he'll be skinny dipping himself, and he'll have a lot to say about the Bureau of Land Management's decision to close the springs for good at the end of this year. The decision came earlier this year, after a report that law enforcement and land managers have for years battled underage drinking, illegal drug use, vehicle break-ins, sexual assault, medical emergencies and even murder. Several hot springs lovers have banded together to try to save the pools from being ripped out, but so far—no luck.